Democracy in the balance: Election and voter issues remain grave concerns. Trevor Potter and Hayden Johnson will explore peak pandemic voter access expansion policies, the rise of the “election denier,” as well as election manipulation efforts and post-2020 efforts to roll back voter access. Potter and Johnson will provide the CLC response.
Speakers:
Trevor Potter is the president of the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), an organization dedicated to advancing democracy through law. A Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, Trevor was general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and an adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. The American Bar Association Journal has described Trevor as “hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law, and money.” Trevor has appeared widely in national broadcast and print media. To many, Trevor is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election.
Hayden Johnson is an attorney on litigation and policy projects across CLC’s programs. Highlights from his CLC work include litigating disputes during the 2020 election, contributing to the development of the Electoral Count Reform Act, confronting voter intimidation, and advocating against gerrymandering.
Kevin Johnson, the moderator, is the Executive Director of Election Reformers Network, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to modernizing U.S. democratic institutions threatened by polarization. Kevin leads ERN’s programs in impartial election administration, independent redistricting, and voting rules. Mr. Johnson is also a member of the Carter Center’s Election Expert Study Team, which supports Carter Center programs in the U.S.
Mr. Johnson’s election reform experience includes seven years overseas with the National Democratic Institute, ten years on the Board of Common Cause Massachusetts, and advisory positions with American Promise, Rank the Vote, and Voter Choice Massachusetts.
Mr. Johnson has authored more than two dozen election-related opinion pieces in outlets including The Washington Post, The Hill, Governing, and The Daily Beast, along with longer reports on topics such as partisan election administration and gerrymandering. Mr. Johnson has an MBA from Wharton and a BA from Yale.